[September 25th marks William Faulkner’s 125th birthday. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy Faulkner and other Southern storytellers, leading up to a special weekend tribute to a great new Faulkner website!]
On three
compelling works by the precocious, hugely talented Southern
writer lost far too soon.
1)
The
Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940): McCullers published three phenomenal
novels before she turned 30, and her masterpiece might well be the first,
published when she was just 23 years old. Heart
is one of the more unique American novels, assembling a cast of Sherwood
Anderson-inspired “grotesques” and exploring both the universal human
themes reflected by the book’s title and many specific social and cultural layers
to life in a 1930s Georgia mill town. There are many reasons to read beyond the
Southern Renaissance authors on whom I’ve focused earlier in this series,
including questions of inclusion and diversity to be sure; but high on the list
as well is the very different early 20th century Souths to which an
author like McCullers and work like Heart
help us connect.
2)
The
Member of the Wedding (1946): As I mentioned
in this post, McCullers’ third novel (although she began it immediately
after publishing Heart) offers a
coming of age story that complements but also contrasts with the far more
well-known To Kill a Mockingbird. Featuring
slightly more familiar characters than the true originals in Heart, Member has been frequently adapted, including by McCullers herself
for the 1950
Broadway show that ran for 501 performances and spawned an acclaimed 1952 film adaptation
featuring many of the same actors as the play. So there are lots of ways to
connect with this story, but I still highly recommend the novel, and agree with
McCullers
when she wrote to her husband Reeves that it is “one of those works that
the least slip can ruin. It must be beautifully done,” and it most definitely
was.
3)
Illumination and Night Glare
(1999):
Perhaps sensing the end of her far too short life was approaching, McCullers
dictated her autobiography over her final months in 1967; but it was left unfinished,
and only published (in that unfinished form) 32
years later. As that New York Times
review suggests, Illumination is a
short and at times frustratingly opaque book, perhaps because of its unfinished
state, certainly because of McCullers’ own reticence to write at length about
her many struggles and challenges. But what the book does capture is what its
title suggests: the moments of epiphany that pierce through the darkness of
those struggles and challenges and provide a writer with inspiration to go with
the precocious talent. For anyone interested in learning more about the writing
process and life, I highly recommend McCullers’ autobiography.
Next
storytelling studying tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Southern storytellers you’d share?
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